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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24315928">a winning bet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome/pseuds/Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome'>Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:15:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24315928</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome/pseuds/Pontmercyingtilthecowscomehome</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>To pass the time between classes, the Alliance Coffee crew plays a lot of card games. Cassian Andor, focused on good grades (and on ignoring his long-held crush on Leia) chooses not to play... until now.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cassian Andor/Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian/Luke Skywalker, Shara Bey/Kes Dameron</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a winning bet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Absolutely pure fluff and ridiculousness. I miss coffeeshops. I miss fluff. What else can I say?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cassian didn't play cards often. It was a trait of his noted and speculated on by all of the others who also made alliance Coffee their chosen campus home. The coffeeshop, which was somehow both overpriced and underwhelming, never had many guests, except for the crew who had learned to gather there over their time at University. It didn’t hurt that a few of the group even now rented the rooms above the coffeeshop.</p><p>Really, for all the time they spent in the coffeeshop lobby, playing cards and pretending to study, all of them should have been professional poker players by now. </p><p>Well, all of them but Cassian, since he had never once joined the game, always seemingly happy enough to review Economics flashcards with Leia instead. (Leia, or the princess, as they jokingly called the girl whose parents had enough money to buy the coffeeshop outright, had been banned from poker games after getting into  one too many shouting matches about obscure rules of the game. She tended to stick to Scrabble these days. Or, more often, could be found with her nose in a textbook and her hair pulled up in a bun, held firmly by whatever highlighter or pen was handy)</p><p>But Cassian, who was all too happy to play Scrabble, or even Battleship when Bodhi asked, refused to play cards. Some, like Kes, insisted that meant the quiet man was terrible at poker. Others, who are perhaps slightly more observant, like Shara, would point out that not only did Cassian have the smarts to maintain a 4.0 in three majors, one of those being Economics… and his favorite class was Game Theory. Therefore, Shara had said, it’s more likely that the young man simply didn’t feel like playing with those below his level.</p><p>That hadn’t stopped Kes from prodding Cassian into a game one spring afternoon. “Come on,” Kes says, patting the old, worn-out cushion on the equally worn-out couch. “One game.”</p><p>Cassian looks up from the counter where he’s busy dumping packs of organic sweetener into his coffee. “I’ve got to study.”</p><p>“For what?”</p><p>Before Cassian can answer, Luke appears, leaping over the back of the ancient recliner and settling down, cross-legged, across from Kes. “I’ll play!”</p><p>“See?” Kes says, still trying to gently goad his friend into joining, “all the cool kids are playing.”</p><p>“That’s the first time you’ve called me cool,” Luke replies. </p><p>“You’re growing on me,” Kes replies. “Like a blond little mold.” It’s true that Luke had originally baffled Kes, who hadn’t believed the young man’s naive enthusiasm was honest, at first. But after six months of getting to know the kid, Kes is starting to realize that there’s nothing artificial about Luke, that all of his bright-eyed happiness is just who he is.</p><p>It’s a pretty big contrast, Kes thinks, from Luke’s twin sister, Leia, who happens to be Shara’s roommate. Unlike Luke, Leia is guarded, calm, and sometimes downright mysterious. Shara had told Kes that Leia could actually be a lot of fun, but Kes, who usually believed his girlfriend about everything (including that time she told him that </p><p>“Ohh, what have we here?” Lando asks, as he strides into Alliance, Shara walking next to him. The two, as members of the Campus Council on Diversity, usually came to the coffeeshop later than the others. Today was no exception. Lando sets down the stack of posters he'd carried on an empty chair.  “Another day of poker, I see.”</p><p>"Hey there, handsome," Shara sits next to Kes, ruffling his hair with one hand. He blushes, which only turns redder when she kisses his cheek. He mumbles something in Spanish under his breath, which is enough to make Shara kiss him again. “I’ll play,” she says. “And I’ll bet you three homecooked meals that I win.”</p><p>“Deal me in, too,” Lando says, perching on the arm of Luke’s chair. “My wager is vacuuming the living room for a week.”</p><p>“Cassian?” Shara asks the young man, who is still watching and sipping his coffee. “You in?”</p><p>“Undecided,” he says, diplomatic as ever. He'd helped Leia with her campaign to be elected Student Body President, but oddly enough, despite all his people skills, Cassian had never run himself.</p><p>“Why do you never want to play?” Kes asks.</p><p>Cassian sets his coffee down. “If I’m honest, the stakes never interest me. You all are always gambling chores since you live together here, and I live off-campus. So, why should I play?”</p><p>That sounded like a little too convenient of an excuse for Kes. He narrows his eyes. “Where exactly do you live? You’re a little mysterious, Andor.”</p><p>Cassian shrugs. “With my friend. Kay.”</p><p>“Kay the hacker who crashed the computers during finals week last year?”</p><p>Cassian takes another sip. “Perhaps.”</p><p>“So,” Lando rubs his small goatee, “We just have to find you interesting stakes." </p><p> Cassian leans forward on the counter, as if daring them to come up with something intriguing. Lando folds his arms, never one to back down from a dare.  "I seem to recall needing to make another similar wager with this handsome young man sitting right next to me.”</p><p>“Wait!” Luke’s eyebrows jumped up, as worry crossed his face. “You can’t make a bet to kiss <em>Cassian!</em> You and I are already dating!”</p><p>Lando blushes at that comment, before quickly leaning down to hug Luke. “Wasn’t what I meant, Sunshine. Kissing you was the best wager I’ve ever made, I’ll tell you that for sure.” </p><p>Carefully, Luke tugged at Lando’s shoulder so that the man tumbled onto the armchair next to him, squeezed close enough to nearly be sitting in Luke’s lap. With a big grin on his now-happy face, Luke rested his head on Lando’s shoulder. Their affection is clear to everyone of the coffee crew, and they’d all been rooting for them anyway, so it’s nice to see them finally together. </p><p>Luke’s smile turns mischievous, though, as he ponders what Lando had said. Though he often seems innocent, the young man was raised by a brilliant politician of a mother. “Hey Cass? If you lose,” Luke says “you have to tell my sister you like her.”</p><p>The coffee cup slips from Cassian’s hands, and even his quick reflexes aren’t enough to stop its fall. </p><p>“I’ll add a cup of coffee to the wager,” says Kes, who’s allegedly working behind the counter today. Allegedly being the keyword. </p><p>After carefully cleaning up the spill, Cassian says, so softly Kes isn’t sure he hears it, “deal me in.”</p><p>Shara laughs, throwing her head back, and wraps an arm around Kes’s broad shoulders. She nuzzles his neck, before kissing his cheek. “What a man you are.  You enjoy your game. Leia and I have a semi-formal dinner to go to for our political science honor society, so I need to change.”</p><p>“Was I supposed to go to this one?” Kes asks. “Wait. Was I supposed to buy you a corsage?”</p><p>“No, honey, you’re doing great. Just keep it up.” She shakes her head, kisses him once more, then leaps over the back of the couch and heads up the stairs to the apartment half of the coffeeshop.</p><p>Meanwhile, Cassian moves to sit in the spot she had recently vacated. Lando deals the cards. </p><p>The game begins. Cassian remains silent, even as the others playfully trash-talked and doubled their wagers. No one mentions what they have in their hand as they adjust their bets, though its clear Luke has a terrible hand, based on his frowns and exclamations. Meanwhile, Cassian stays focused on the cards in his hand, only moving enough to rub his beard, deep in thought.</p><p>The game progresses, until, with a smile, Luke announces, “all in.”</p><p>That, and that alone, draws a reaction from Cassian. Luke’s bold bet makes his eyebrows raise, only slightly. </p><p>Then, there is the soft, unmistakable click of high heels on stairs. As if pulled by the same compass, both Kes and Cassian pivot, to look up .</p><p>Shara walks down first, dressed in a white-and-blue floral dress, her dark hair loosely braided over a shoulder, with pearl earrings and a delicate bracelet making her appear more delicate than her usual sports-and-gym based attire does. Kes beams at her, but, as beautiful as she is, he still wants to focus on the game.</p><p>He turns back to the table, knowing that at this point, each of them will have to place a final bet without being able to see anyone else’s hand. </p><p>But there’s the sound of another person’s feet on the stairs, and Cassian has yet to turn back to the table.  Leia appears, moving gracefully down the staircase. Her dress is gleaming white, fitted to her curves just enough that the silk ripples as she moves. The low neckline allows a glittering silver necklace to be seen, and her long brown hair is, for once, free of all braids and ties. It ripples behind her like a soft chestnut wave.</p><p>The cards Cassian has held so tightly slip free of his grip and tumble onto the table. They scatter. An Ace of Hearts lands on top of the queen and king.</p><p>“Drat,” Leia’s eyes widen as she glances down at Shara at the base of the steps.I’ve forgotten my purse.” It almost seems as if she hadn't noticed any of those gathered at the table, least of all Cassian, who sits, his hand held to his heart. She darts away, racing back up the stairs, and only after she disappears, does Cassian take another breath. </p><p>“Oh look,” Kes says, waving an arm down at the scattered cards in front of Cassian. “He’s got a winning hand.”</p><p>“On the contrary,” Shara replies, moving to sit by her boyfriend with a  smug smile, “I think he’s quite lost.”</p><p>No one says anything until Cassian laughs, softly, shyly, as if trying out the emotion for the first time. “I did win,” he says. “So technically, I don’t have to tell her…”</p><p>“But what if I already know?” Leia’s voice floats down the steps, followed shortly by herself. She races down this time, as if her high-heels are as easy to wear as tennis shoes. Her hair flutters as she glides over to the table. </p><p>“You… do?” Cassian whispers. He stands, as if he is ready to ask her for a dance. As if they are in a ballroom and not a faded old coffee shop. In some ways, it seems to Kes as if the whole room has changed around the couple, as if just maybe, if one listened closely enough, they would actually hear the opening notes of a waltz. Cassian clears  his throat. “Leia, I just…”</p><p>“Have known me since our very first day of classes together?” she teases, shifting a little where she stands so that the necklace glitters as bright as her smile. "You... have always been a dear friend?" she asks, her hand coming up to rest on his bearded cheek. “You... have decided to be Mr. Scruffy and Mysterious man a little too long?”</p><p>“I…”</p><p>"You are being very silly, Cassian Andor. Or did you think I didn't hear the wager you made?" Leia giggles and it wrinkles her nose. The expression is just enough to make her all the more beautiful, showing how delightfully human she is--even if she looks like an angel.</p><p>Cassian bites his lip, just for a moment. His hand runs through his hair, tousling it. “I like you, Leia Organa. Quite a bit, in fact.”</p><p>She beams at him, her smile somehow all the brighter now. “Good,” she closes the distance between them, tucking her arm around his. “Then you can come with me to dinner. I’ve made reservations at my favorite restaurant and--”</p><p>“But your honor society was…” Cassian trails off. “This was a set-up, wasn’t it?” Realization dawns as the young man looks around at his gathered friends, there in the faded coffee shop. Every one of them is smiling, smug, but delighted for him. Every one of them has proven to be far more cunning than he’d ever thought.</p><p>And glancing down to Leia next, to see the joy in her eyes and the glitter in her smile, Cassian also thinks that every one of the assembled crew has proven to be a better friend than he could have ever asked for. They don't need to know that he's played professional poker since he turned eighteen, that Kay and he were able to pay their college tuition from the profits he'd won in Vegas. They don't need to know any of that, because their game had led to this wonderful moment. Had led to Leia smiling up at him, and his own heart being all in on this moment, ready to commit to whatever she'd asked of him. A dinner, a dance, the rest of his life? Cassian would bet all that and more to her if it meant she'd always be at his side.</p><p>He had never been so happy to lose a game of cards in his life.</p>
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